Explores the blurry history of the city, beginning with its farmers and oyster fishermen… An important story for architects and planners everywhere facing the excitement as well as perils of rapid urbanization and industrialization.”— The Architect’s Newspaper Wasserstrom praised how the work is "a major contribution to understanding a fascinating city" though he argued she should not have de-emphasized the massacre, should have cited Shenzheners by Xue Yiwei, and should have examined how the "“fishing village" myth" became popularized. [4] As we try to read the runes of last summer’s announcement that Shenzhen is to become once more a pioneering model city for China, Juan Du’s book provides a nuanced and detailed historical grounding, drawing on a diverse range of sources and primary research. Blending the personal and the historical, it is an outstanding primer on the fascinating fortunes of a city which will only grow in national and global significance over the course of the next decade.

The first section is "National Relevance" (how it relates to China as a whole), [9] with the first chapter chronicling Jiang Kairu. [10] The others are: "Regional History" (the development of the Pearl River Delta), "Urban Construction" (which includes conflict between the pro-development government and individuals who wish to retain their housing, or " nail houses"), and the section about " urban villages". [9]

Juan Du et al. (eds.) (2005). City Open Door, Exhibition Catalogue, 1st Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\ Architecture. Shenzhen: Shenzhen Press Group Publishing House. Whether viewed as cliché or cherished as an origin story, the Shenzhen myth embodies China’s global rise at the turn of the twenty-first century. The myth has become more powerful than any facts about the city.

Juan Du (2008). Don’t Underestimate the Rice Fields. In Ilka and Andreas Ruby (Eds.), Urban Transformation (pp. 218-225). Berlin: Ruby Press. Juan Du (2020). The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China’s Instant City. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Juan Du. History of Shenzhen and the formation of Urban Villages, Special Issue on Design for the City/ Shenzhen, Urban Environment Design, 108 (2017): 34-39. Juan Du and Janette Kim (2013). Safari SZHK: Hong Kong Base Camp. In Travis Bunt (Ed.), Beyond the Urban Edge: The Ideal City? (pp. 48-49). Hong Kong: HKIA, HKIP, HKDA.

Article contents

As a result of Shenzhen's extraordinary economic success, the city was viewed as a land of opportunity. There was mass rural migration to the SEZ, and Shenzhen experienced immense population growth. By 2000, 20 million people lived in the Shenzhen SEZ. Despite Urban Villages having a negative stereotype (through 2016) because they didn't fit into the image of a well-planned city, the 300 urban villages - aka, peasant houses and villages in the city (6-7 floor "towers" & "nail houses") supplied half of the residential floor area, and provided affordable housing to its growing population. Additionally, within these communities, township and village enterprises (TVE) sprouted and became the industrial engine of Shenzhen's economy during the SEZ's first decade. Like all myths, Shenzhen’s has a relationship, albeit distant, with reality. However, the evolution of this city has been far less straightforward—and straightforwardly positive—than this founding mythology suggests.